President Kiir of South Sudan Designates a Sanctioned Ally as the Party Deputy

Under international sanctions, President Salva Kiir named a close confidant as the deputy leader of the ruling party in South Sudan.

As the nation struggles with fresh armed conflicts and growing doubts about Kiir’s successor, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has reorganized the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in a dramatic manner, elevating longtime ally and sanctioned figure Benjamin Bol Mel to the party’s second-highest position.

Kiir, 73, designated Second Vice President Bol Mel as the SPLM’s deputy chairperson in a decree that was aired on state television on Tuesday evening. Bol Mel’s nomination puts him squarely in line to take over as president in the event that Kiir resigns, which feeds rumors that he might be the president’s chosen successor.

The United States imposed sanctions on Bol Mel in 2017 due to claims that his construction company received preferential government contracts. He is currently positioned at the center of South Sudan’s power structure and has continued to play a significant role in Kiir’s administration.

The political upheaval occurs only a few weeks after the UN issued a warning that a civil war is imminent in South Sudan. After Kiir’s longtime opponent, First Vice President Riek Machar, was placed under house arrest on suspicion of trying to encourage rebellion—a claim his party has vehemently denied—tensions have skyrocketed.

The shaky 2018 peace deal that put an end to the nation’s catastrophic five-year civil war, which pitted Kiir’s Dinka-dominated forces against Machar’s Nuer fighters, is allegedly nullified by Machar’s incarceration, according to his party.

Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany have either closed embassies or reduced operations in Juba as a result of the recent events, raising diplomatic worries.

Kiir also demoted three senior SPLM leaders who had been instrumental in the liberation war of South Sudan, including former Second Vice President James Wani Igga, in the same decision. As internal disagreements widen, the action points to a larger realignment inside the ruling party.